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Brewer's Manufacturing Systems Adapt to a Changing Market

The brewer was unprepared for changing market demands that drove proliferation of recipes and SKUs. With ARC's workshops, they now have a process automation system roadmap that accommodates the change while also optimizing operations.

Client Challenges

In the beer market, consumers have increased their demands for product quality, variety, safety and packaging convenience. Global competitors were encroaching on this brewer's customer base. To thwart market share erosion, the brewer responded with new products that drove a proliferation of recipes and SKUs. The control and manufacturing systems were inflexible. They were not prepared for this change and operating problems quickly emerged.

ARC Solution

ARC managed and facilitated a series of workshops that developed into this brewer's comprehensive process automation system strategy. ARC also provided plant surveys, interviews, and information analysis. This work included (at both the corporate and plant levels) engineering, IT, plant brew masters, bottling & logistics, quality control, plant maintenance, utilities, plant bottling operations, and plant water treatment operations. The typical barriers among engineering, operations and IT dissolved, and their discussions became very productive. Additional information was gathered in interviews with key suppliers, service providers, other manufacturers, and professionals with extensive industry experience. The study and report included a general roadmap and budgetary estimates for a transition to a world-class brewery process automation system.

Results

The process automation system roadmap included a batch execution system, plant historian, performance management tools, production management & reporting, process automation, field instrumentation, LIMS, energy management, safety, maintenance management and regulatory compliance with adoption of appropriate industry standards. The roadmap identified what functionality was most appropriate in the control and production management domains, and what was best in the SAP system. The new control and production management functions, and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products complimented rather than overlapped the current and planned SAP functional modules. Included were budgetary estimates and schedule for each individual plant. These budgets obtained approval from executive management. Now, this brewer is well on the way to optimizing their manufacturing operations to accommodate the changing market demands and product proliferation. Contact us today to see how we can help you with your project.